Clara Nunes

Clara Nunes

Clara Francisca Nunes Pinheiro (1943–1983) was a Braziliansamba musician who had worked in a factory in her teens. Her first album, in 1965, had a mix of boleros and sambas. In the 1970s she became known as a samba singer and in 1974 had a hit with the song Conto de Areia. Her rhythms were also inspired by her religion, Candomblé.

In 1975 she toured Europe and by the 1980s she was hailed as one of the top three "Samba Queens." She scored a hit in 1980 with Morena de Angola, which Chico Buarque wrote for her. In 1983 she died from a surgery to correct varicose veins, which led to mourning across Brazil.